[the_greatest_country_ever]

"Overtaken by the democratic vitality and technological advance of the United State," Bavarez concludes, "downgraded industrially and challenged commercially by China and Asia, the decline of France is accelerating at the same rhythm as the vast changes in the world."

France retains its status of world power on sheer unmitigated arrogance alone. I say; good bye and good riddance.

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[At _War_With_Liberals]

France is the self-appointed leader of the third world.

[Starrgaizr]

It's easy to be a jerk when no one cares about you enough anymore to invade you.

[joesnuffy]

France just needs to be fully Islamisized
and tucked into her planned economy niche in the Euro Union

[Cicero]

The International Herald Tribune is now wholly owned by the New York Times, and seen as its way to enter and influence the EU. So this is a remarkable column by a respected heavyweight to appear in that venue.

It is certainly accurate. What's new to me is that the French intellectual establishment is waking up to the position, and saying pretty much what we are saying. Chirac bet every cent of prestige that France has, and he has lost.

I would disagree that Chirac is revaluing the situation. Why would his wife publicly praise Hillary Clinton at the very moment that Laura Bush is paying a reconciliating visit? No, Chirac is hopeless. IMHO we should NOT forgive France until such time as they have proven themselves by shedding blood on our behalf, as we have so many times shed blood for them. And I don't mean some kind of token blocking force that never sees combat, such as they sent to Gulf War I.

[cwb]

"French diplomacy has undertaken to broaden the fracture within the West, and duplicate American unilateralism on the European scale by its arrogant dressing down of Europe's new democracies."

It's amazing; it seems that there are many in France who recognize the damage that Chirac and his adminisration has caused his country, and the world at large. And yet, here in America, we have liberals who praise the French position, accusing us of this very thing. While the US may not be the most loved country on the planet, we still are the most respected...something that cannot be said of France.

[schaketo]

Of a united Europe, Bavarez said, France has "ruined what might have remained of a common foreign and security policy, deeply dividing the community and placing France in the minority."

Perhaps I can help the french understand the PERMANENT change in U.S. sentiment:

1. french President Jacques Chirac, personally helped Iraq begin its nuclear program.
2. france assisted China in shipping raw materials for chemical weapons to Iraq through Syria.
3. french security services helped suppress opposition groups seeking to depose Saddam Hussein.
4. The french had supplied Iraq with precision switches for nuclear weapons.
5. french companies had resupplied Iraq with spare parts for fighter jets on the eve of the March 2003 invasion. Intelligence reports indicated that Iraq was able to obtain French military spare parts for its Mirage jets and Gazelle attack helicopters in violation of U.N. sanctions.
6. The french helped Iraqi officials escape U.S. capture by issuing them EU passports. The passports allowed the Iraqis to evade detection by U.S. military and intelligence agencies because they were EU travel documents.
7. Intelligence officials said France attempted to conclude an oil deal with Saddam's government days before U.S. military action began March 19.
8. french anti-aircraft weapons smuggled into Iraq prior to the war, the Roland 3 batteries, and Roland 5 shoulder-fired anti-air missiles. Reports have still not been denied that these systems were stamped '2002 date of manufacture.'
9. The french peddled disinformation against the Americans before the war -- this is a war for oil, Resolution 1441 does not authorize military action, George Bush is "cowboy," etc. -- at the very least, they now deserve some of their own.
10. The frogs proactively tried to get the African nations to vote against us in the U.N. by sending a french emissary to each sitting temporary Security Council member. Strong rumors of bribes and threats linger today.

Those countries who stood against us before the Iraq War are responsible for EVERY life lost in Iraq -- whether the lives be coalition lives or Iraqi lives. france, more than any other country, is responsible for all the deaths of our warriors.

france had an unemployment rate of 9.3% last month (April 03). It’s rising. Can we help them push it over 10%? 20%?. The new reality show on FOX this fall could be the marxists, socialists, and fundamentalist muslim imports (they are about 10% of the population and growing) burning paris to the ground. You can help:

WE SHOULD NEVER FORGET!

Gotta keep this alive. Share this link with all like minded family and friends. They are feeling the heat.

15000 french products that you can boycott:

http://howtobuyamerican.leethost.com/b-db-boycottfrance.shtml

[xJones]

His country was at the edge of marginalization in Europe and the world, he claimed, because of its "verbal pretense of having real power" that is "completely cut off from its capacity for influence or action."

Oh I don't know, they can always threaten to send their one aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, that is if it doesn't fall apart leaving the harbor.

France's essential arrogance, the authors suggest, is in continuing to act as if the world community and its European partners do not comprehend that for the French leadership, the "EU serves as the means for France to recover its influence and to reconquer its lost power."

It was impossible to not comprehend for the aspiring Eastern European countries, when Chirac basically and publically told them to shut up when several of those countries signed a letter in support of the War on Iraq prior to the invasion. Chirac also very maladriotly hinted that they could be turned down from EU membership if they didn't toe his line. If you're going to act like a bully, you'd better have something to back it up with, and it seems that some French are finally getting the idea.

[JoJo Gunn]

There is no such thing as an "intellectual". Anyone can make up 5 dollar words. The only way you can give truth to their "existence", like with UFO's and Bigfoot, is if you believe them.

[marron]

The article gives me the impression that France still doesn't get it. They see that their influence in the world is slipping, and they still see that as a function of power. If they can just convince the Russians to join, if they can just get control of the EU, if they can just find a way to counter-balance the US...

But without a moral vision to back it up, its just power for power's sake, and their influence is then limited by the geopolitical realities of France's relative lack of it.

If France wants to matter on the world stage, it needs to find its moral vision, it needs to appoint moral men to positions of power, it needs to behave as if it understands that there are moral issues in play that go beyond whether it is Total or Exxon who drills the next Iraqi well. There are moral issues that go beyond whether the most important ideas are discussed in English or French. If France matters it must be because of the strength of her arguments, and the moral force of her vision, that people in Vilnius or Bucharest would be discussing ideas born in Paris rather than ideas born in Chicago. Or Midland-Odessa.

Which language they discuss them in doesn't matter. The ideas matter.

France elected a man to office who was known to be corrupt, and they went on to back a homicidal maniac in his war with the US. No amount of power politics can win back the moral influence they threw away. We can sympathise, we have had corrupt presidents lead us into misguided wars, this isn't strictly a French problem, it is the human condition. But there is a way back, and the way back is to turn around, throw the sleazeball out of office, and try to re-introduce a sense of morality to their public discourse. It will pay dividends far beyond their borders and far beyond the relative strength or weakness of their military forces. But then they must be prepared to back up that vision with French blood and courage. And to unite with like minded allies to do the same.

If your entire foreign policy is wrapped around obstructing the US, you really have no policy worthy of the name.